Hashimoto's and Auto-Immune diet

[mumat39]

Hello.

I have Hasphimoto's thyroiditis, which was diagnosed about 6 years ago, after the birth of DC1.

I have only recently learned that I should not be eating gluten, after seeing a nutritionist, and am annoyed that I wasn't told this when I was first diagnosed. Anyway, I know now, so have been eating gluten free for the last 4 months. I think I have had the odd exposure, but on the whole have managed to avoid it.

The nutritionist has given me details of an auto-immune diet, and I was wondering if anyone else is following one of these and whether you'd be happy to share some food ideas with me.

At the moment I feel like an elderly person. My joints ache. I have no energy. I have had my annual blood tests done and they show my TSH and T3 levels are at a good level, but I still feel like poo!

I don't eat well which I know is the problem but I spend most of my time just completely lethargic and lacking in any interest or motivation esp when it comes to food for me, so we live on cheap ready meals, like risotto. I'm stuck in a rut and need some hell from a real life person who is actually going through, or has gone through this.

My pnutritionist is lovely and I will ask her for help, but thought I'd ask here first.

Many thanks in advance.

[GlassHeart1]

From my and my ds experience, when u stop eating gluten you initially feel worse as its like going through detox and I certainly managed to shift some weight in the process. He even developed other adverse reactions like rash, aches and pains, headaches and sensitivity to potatoes. It all improved eventually and he can even eat dairy again w/o any reaction (used to cause him mega constipation).

It took 2 years for my ds's vitamin levels to improve. Also, bear in mind that the taking high doses of vits might not be effective instantly as the digestion and absorption is being restored from being blocked by gluten in recent past. He was vegetarian back then as couldn't digest meat (low stomach acid is also linked to gluten).

I used to suffer from brain fog and permanent tiredness, I only went gf b/c of my ds but was totally blown away by the improvement.

[Nettleskeins]

just thought I would bump this thread, as I have hashimoto's thyroiditis and trying out the AIP.

Interesting to see that a lesser form including coffee, some nuts and some cream still works!

My TSH has recently risen and I feel like an earlier poster described, like the Tin Man in the morning. Waiting to see endo and possibly raise the levo dose yet again, but wanted to try see something else in the meantime if the thryroid problem is being exacerbated by leaky gut/grains/nightshades/nuts.

[RawCoconutMacaroon]

Some people react to grain alcohol and some don't, so I wouldn't throw out the Hendricks just yet .

[RawCoconutMacaroon]

Well, no soya, pulses either I kind of forgot that... Although fermented soy seems to be regarded as less bad, and pulses prepared in certain ways (sprouted or soaked), are also eaten by some people (there's a book called Nourishing Traditions about this kind of traditional food preparation and how it removes many of the irritant substances from these foods, making them much easier to digest.

Agave tequila (100% agave spirit not blended), and potato vodka are my poison of choice, or cider for a softer drink...

[YeGodsAndLittleFishes]

Ah..just discovered that gin is a grain spirit. I've indulged in that a bit recently, out of the blue, too.

[YeGodsAndLittleFishes]

What about soya, beans amd pulses? Do they cout as grains/gluten or irritants?

[RawCoconutMacaroon]

Ha, I realise I didn't say what I DO eat!

Fish, seafood,meat (including plenty of cheaper cuts done in slow cooker or slow oven cook). Eggs (some, they used to be a strong migraine trigger and I'm wary of overdoing it). Some raw cheese. Some double cream ( no milk).

Lots of veg, what's in season as much as possible. Lots of berries and some other fruits. Carrots, onion,swede, cauliflower sweet potato in place of rice/pasta. Courgette slices can be used as "pasta sheets" in recipes.

Nuts, nut butters in moderation seeds in moderation, dark chocolate, non grain alcohol, coffee, tea... As so on. All "normal" food, just a bit different iykwim.

[RawCoconutMacaroon]

Pringles are sprayed with lots of stuff, including gluten and chilli powder depending on the flavour...

When I started off, I cut out all the gluten containing grains first. Then got more serious about it and cut them all.

Initially I would have white rice (brown is more irritant to the gut). I still do on rare occasions.

It was pretty tough to start with - you think there is nothing you can eat. But there comes a point when you look round the supermarket and realise most of what is for sale there can barely be called food at all! About 80% of the shelf space is take up with processed food products that didn't even exist a few decades ago.

But after a few months it does get a lot easier. Our DC eat the same as us at home, when at school they are more lax but I think that's fine, they need to make the choice and I think by eating a more natural diet most of the time, they are probably less likely to run into immune and metabolic problems later in life...

Yet again, I point you in the direction of my favorite two blogs, Marksdailyapple and Robbwolf.com as both have masses of recipes and ideas for food choices... There are masses of recipe websites tho, if you google Paleo or primal. All will be grain free, most are dairy free ( or will give a dairy free version).

For probiotics I use biokult protexin... Advanced formula. Amazon it the easiest place to get specific things like that. I also take a sublingual b12 complex by sundown naturals (also Amazon), and get outside exposure to the sun most days (not always easy in Scotland!), and supplement that in winter with d3.

[mumat39]

I wonder if it could have been that then. Fingers crossed your feet are a little less sore tomorrow.

Take care xxx

[YeGodsAndLittleFishes]

Aubergines are unusual for us (and as part of the nightshade group, could be related to that.) Before that, lots of crisps (Pringles).

[mumat39]

Raw, 3 years grain free sounds amazing to me. You've done so well and it gives me the hope that it is possible. I get so bogged down by what can I eat, What can I eat. Can I ask, when you first went grain free, what did you eat? I know it's a mindset thing, but it's so entrenched that I sometimes shop on autopilot. For example, today I bought a pack of rice cakes. I checked they were gluten free, but completely forgot they're a grain.

Also, would you be able to let me know which probiotic you take? There are so many available that it's confusing.

Thanks also for sharing all you know about everything, I really appreciate your help.

YeGods, did you eat anything unusual yesterday that might account for your achey feet?

[YeGodsAndLittleFishes]

Yeah i kept going back to ask what the cause of my anaemia was...went through every GP at the surgery until one listed the possible causes...one is auto immune diseases! Something to do with more iron being used up while the body is busy attacking itself.

[RawCoconutMacaroon]

Mum, it doesn't mean excluding them for ever, just for a while and you may be able to have them (at least sometimes maybe not every day, at some point in the future. I can have some fresh chilli now but that's after 3 years of gut healing (grain free, and daily broad spectrum probiotic).

[RawCoconutMacaroon]

Ham and other cold meats, tbh it's probably the additives and not the meat... It's amazing the amount of utter shite food manufacturers put in anything pre cooked. Including gluten, wheat derivatives, sulphites and so on. Although pork does have naturally high level of hystamine so it can give you allergy type symptoms like itch, rash, headache.

Vitamin d, b12, iron, deficiencies are an interesting thing, I mean the cause just tends to get left out of the equation by most of the medical profession. They are happy to supplement, and often don't investigate WHY a person is deficient in the first place. It is the body hanging out a big red flag and saying "something is going a bit wrong here" IMO!

[YeGodsAndLittleFishes]

I just loked it up and read that it's alkalids in nightshade foods which causes the joint aches and pains! It is actually a thing! Hurrah!

And eggplant/aubergine is one too. :(

[mumat39]

That's interesting Raw, about the inflammation compound in nightshade foods. It's such a shame that it would mean excluding chillis and potatoes. Worth a try though.

I was given a version of a vitamix, by someone who never uses it, to try out, and was wondering if anyone makes soup in them and if they're any good.

[mumat39]

Vit D deficiency caused loads of aches and pains for me when I was first diagnosed. I was very low and the GP gave me a D3 injection, and I swear the next day I felt human. I was then told to supplement with 2000iu of d3 a day for six months. The consultant I saw at the hospital told me to take it for the rest if my days. My gp said I didn't need it, so I listened to him, but am wondering now if that might also be affecting me.

I'm also wondering about the nightshade family stuff. I wonder if it's something to do with the waxy skins which I do t digest well. I know I have an issue with joints aching if I eat too much ham. I think that's because pork is acid forming but not sure where I heard that. My mum is hypothyroid too and can't have too much citric acid containing foods as it causes her joints to become very painful.

YeGods, hope the pain's a big better this evening. I'm 45 and hobble like a 110 year old whenever I get up after sitting for a bit.

Also, I've heard that epsom salt baths are a really good way of supplementing magnesium into the body. I have a tub of that but our bath takes too long to fill up, so I've only used it once. It's also supposed to help relieve aches and pains. I might get myself a foot bath bucket thing and do my feet everyday if I can.

[RawCoconutMacaroon]

Itwillbebetter, I think with the pepper/chilli peppers they have a compound that increases inflammation in joints where there is already some inflammation (or at the site of old injury). It can actually be used to treat pain, strangely, but I guess some people are more sensitive to it. Tomato, potato, aubergine are all nightshades too so I assume they have some of the same compounds in.
From reading about it, I think it's very variable what sets people off - some are fine with small/young nightshades, or ok with tomato but not potato, etc.
it's probably easiest to cut them all out initially and add them back one at a time, baring in mind that young/old/dried might affect you differently! Just to complex ate maters it may take several "doses" within a few days to set you off , !

[YeGodsAndLittleFishes]

(Wanted to add that the roasted veg cools in enamel/steel/glass roasting pans. Then into tupperware. Back into glass to be heated up. Am really trying not to heat food in tupperware, and phasing out non-stick bit by bit.)

I discovered a packet of well woman Magnesium+ tablets in my cupboard, so I'm goi g to try to take one of those a day. (Hard to swallow though) as well as cutting out gluten and nightshade.

Still feel odd. Cold hands, feet stiff. The pins and needles in my mouth not bad right now. I was eating a lot of crisps, potatoes and tomatoes until a couple of days ago. Will see if the changes help. :)

[itwillbebetter]

Sorry to barge in but I've had a lightbulb moment when you started to mention the footpain!

I've recently been diagnosed with Hashi's and in the last 6 weeks gone gluten, sugar and yeast free. I feel much better (less brain fog and more energy) but the joint pain particularly feet, knees and hands is still as bad. I totally relate to all your comments especially the feeling that your bones need to 'spread out'

I wonder then if I need to exclude nightshades. I positively crave potatoes, tomatoes and peppers. Think they will be much harder to give up than bread

Can anyone tell me please why the nighshades have this affect? Is there a scientific reason? Thanks

[RawCoconutMacaroon]

Tomatoes... The small cherry ones don't seem to bother me, or the plum ones. Big ones, especially the giant beefsteak tomatoes do, very much.
I do tend to use sweet potato in a lot of recipes instead, it mushes down to a lovely consistency, although it looks a little different.

The foot pain!!! That is exactly what I used to have before I changed diet. In my fingers to a lesser extent too. I'd have to put my feet on the floor gradually and could barely walk for a few mins until the bones spread out (that's what it felt like). It was very painful.

It stopped with the exclusion diet, and started again when I ate nightshades. It has to be large amounts, if fresh, but if it's dried and powdered, it's much worse (ie chilli powder, spice mixes with powdered peppers). I think it's because the powdered forms have a huge surface area compared with fresh. Potato skins do the same to me (another nightshade).
I'm in good company there, Mark Sissons from Marksdailyapple has written about having the same foot pain reaction.

[YeGodsAndLittleFishes]

I store the roasted veg in tupperware. Some in the fridge for the next couple of days (different veg to the ones last night) some in the freezer, in batches.

[YeGodsAndLittleFishes]

Cruciferous veg ok if cooked. Don't eat raw/too hard if hypo (but raw good if hyper). It won't make a great difference unless you're eating a lot of it. A relation's doctor told her to eat a plate of raw cruciferous veg per day before her thyroidectomy.

[mumat39]

YeGods, that's how I wake up everyday. A bit like I've run a marathon. That's what I meant about feeling like tin man. I'm okay once I get moving. Hope it passes soon.

By the way, when you roast veg, how do you store it afterwards? Can it be frozen?

Does anyone have a view on thyroid and cruciferous veg? Like spinach, brocolli, cauliflower etc? I find all the stuff I read on that confusing and don't know whether I should or shouldn't be eating it.

[YeGodsAndLittleFishes]

I don't need it for the DCs, they're fine eating gluten. One is already dairy free, so I don't want to be encouraging restrictions on diet unless it is to help with a spectific health problem. (Dd has an eating disorder, so important to give the right signals.)

Have woken up very stiff, to the point where I can't walk straight and it hurt a bit to put feet down on the ground for the first few steps. I haven't felt like that since before I was taking my meds.